Oxman's Twin City Luggage in northeast Minneapolis was sold earlier this month for $925,000 to make way for an expanded Holiday gas station and White Castle fast food restaurant, according to city planning documents and an electronic certificate of real estate value made available this week.
The building at 620 Central Av. NE. will be torn down along with another building and the nearby existing White Castle and Holiday stores on a triangular-shaped parcel between E. Hennepin Avenue, SE. 7th Street and Central. Holiday and White Castle will switch places on the site.
The new stores will be larger with Holiday growing from 1,500 square feet to about 6,000 square feet to allow for a greater variety of grocery products and other goods as well as the addition of twice as many fuel pumps (there will be 16) and a carwash.
"Being able to better serve our present customers and capturing a larger share of the potential customers who now may not visit us due to our obsolete and uninviting facility is Holiday's dual strategy for growth at the new site," according to planning documents submitted to the city by Holiday Cos.
The White Castle would be close to 3,000 square feet, about 400 square-feet larger than the old establishment. White Castle representatives said the new design would add more quality and character to the site.
Oxman's had been in business for 84 years.
"Although it has been a difficult and emotional decision to sell and to close, it was an offer too good for me to pass up, and it came at a good time in my life," said owner Susan Oxman, in a recent post on her business website.
During a city planning commission meeting in August, several people from neighboring businesses and homes said they were not happy about the possible increase in traffic the redevelopment would bring. A representative from Nolan Properties, which is working to convert nearby warehouses into apartments, said the company was "not thrilled about this proposal."
"While it does seem somewhat underwhelming, it is a pretty drastic improvement over the existing condition," said commission President Matthew Brown.
The commission approved the plans 3 to 1.
